Honor Flights for aging veterans are one more way to recognize their devotion to duty.

It was impossible not to be deeply touched by the welcome ceremony held Tuesday evening for aging World War II veterans returning home from an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.

Roughly 1,000 people — cheering, holding signs and supported by music from the Marching Illini — turned out to greet the 75 veterans who had visited the new World War II memorial in the nation's capital.

The flight was arranged by the Illini Radio Group, which raised more than $100,000 in donations. Two additional Honor Flights are scheduled for next spring and fall.

The ranks of our World War II veterans are thinning at a rapid rate, making it all the more important that the veterans who wish to visit the D.C. memorial have the opportunity to do so soon.

These veterans each did their part not just to save the world from the menace posed by Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan in a brutal war but to build our country during a difficult post-war era.

They are owed a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. That they are our fathers, mothers, grandparents, friends and neighbors makes our bond with them even greater.

The funny thing about celebrations of this type is that most of the young men and women who went to war never thought of themselves as heroes, just as those called to do a tough, necessary job.

They've been thanked before for their sacrifices. Now they're being thanked again. They can never be thanked enough.